Hello, Reader​
Recently, I received an email from a landowner just like you, let’s call her Mercy (not her real name).

Mercy drilled her borehole about 7 and a half months ago, with an output rate of 13 cubic metres per hour, as per the pump test report.

13 cubic metres per hour can do a lot, by the way! To give you a clear picture, here’s what it can do:

If the pump runs for 8 hours each day, you’ll get an output of 104,000 litres per day. Assuming a single person consumes 200 litres per day, you’ll be serving 520 people on any given day.

That’s the case if you don’t have a storage water tank (which is unlikely). If, however, the pumped water is stored in a tank, you’ll be serving thousands of people each day! You might as well be asking, what about irrigation, dairy, or poultry farming?

You can comfortably irrigate 3 to 8 acres of land, depending on your type of irrigation. This same output rate would serve you well when it comes to dairy or poultry farming too.

I may have lost you there going into detail on what 13 cubic metres per hour can do. Now, back to Mercy.

As with most landowners drilling for the first time, Mercy had researched borehole drilling extensively. Still, she couldn’t get her hands on a few key pieces of information (I’ll explain in a moment), which is exactly what left her with a failed borehole.

After 6 months of normal water output, the water suddenly stopped coming out. At first, Mercy thought the pump had a problem, so she called for a technician.

Turns out the pump was 100 percent functional, and the problem was with the borehole itself.

What could’ve caused this?

From my experience, only two things typically cause this problem.

First, the driller drills several metres short of the recommended depth. So if the sustainable aquifer sits between 120 and 160 metres, the driller only drills to 135 or 140 metres, and the borehole runs dry once that shallower zone is exhausted.

Second, the pump test results are faked. The standard, recommended pump test runs for 24 hours, followed by a recovery test.

For Mercy, it was the second one.

Her driller ran the pump test for only 6 hours instead of the full 24, since running it for 24 hours straight is expensive. The results from 6 hours aren’t reliable, but that’s what he handed her as the absolute output rate for her borehole.

Since the results weren’t accurate, Mercy ended up with a pump too powerful for her actual aquifer, and it drained her borehole dry in a short span of time. The output rate she was given was 13 cubic metres per hour, when in reality it was closer to 3 or 5.

A pump sized for 13 cubic metres per hour will drain a 3 cubic metre aquifer very fast, without you ever knowing what happened. And don’t forget, even though her pump test ran for only 6 hours, Mercy was still billed for the full 24, without ever knowing the difference.

This is exactly why a faked pump test alone can cost you hundreds of thousands of shillings, a wrecked borehole, and money spent on a report that was never real to begin with.

Mercy is currently in the process of raising funds to fix the damage left by a crooked driller who refused to take accountability for his actions.

And she’s not alone. I’ve received emails and calls from other landowners who’ve gone through, or are currently facing, a similar situation.

Dishonest drillers always cut corners, and the only way to protect yourself is by learning this early. Knowing this information too late wouldn’t help you at all, it would only leave you feeling worse.

A pump test should always run for 24 hours, followed by a recovery test. You already know the risks of skipping it, or doing it wrong.

What are your thoughts on this? Reply to this email and let me know. I’ll read it and get back to you as soon as possible.

Talk soon,

James

P.S. If you don’t find my tips helpful, please unsubscribe below. I’ll vanish from your life like a shadow in the night!